Apple Could Be Make iPhones In US?

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With Apple's profit margins being the lowest in fifteen years, I can't see them moving iPhone production to the U.S., but what do I know? According to the anonymous sources cited in the article, Foxconn might even be willing to make some phones here.

Key Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S., sources told the Nikkei Asian Review. "Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," a source said. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns."
 
lol yeah right, and what about the 400% profit they make in those made in china products of them
 
Steve said:
With Apple's profit margins being the lowest in fifteen years, I can't see them moving iPhone production to the U.S., but what do I know? According to the anonymous sources cited in the article, Foxconn might even be willing to make some phones here.

Key Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the U.S., sources told the Nikkei Asian Review. "Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," a source said. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns."
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If they get the corporate tax cut to 15% down from 35%; its a public relations coup, helps drive a spike in Samsung, tax cut will offset most of the reduced margin and may even drive additional sales. Interesting. I also think it makes sense to investigate given China's recent blustering.
 
I don't know if Steve went derpy, or intentional Chinglish....

I'd absolutely love to see more manufacturing come to the US.. but not with Foxconn anywhere near involved.
 
Trump has been telling all the big industries, there are going to be repercussions for sourcing foreign slave labor and exporting pollution overseas and then trying to dump those products back in the US. He's already MAGA, woo!

And Apple execs make plenty that one of their salaries is probably enough to give half a factory of reasonable living wages, and in a global climate this whole exporting pollution overseas for primarily US products doesn't make any sense either. We just need greener manufacturing processes, no matter where its produced, and not give unfair economic advantage to countries that bypass such environmental safety regulations.

We already know that the price we consumers pay is completely divorced from the actual cost to manufacture the product, so what does an extra $5-10 mean in the end? Nothing, and we'll be keeping more of that money inside the US economy!
 
Look at what having these phones made in China has done for Apple. Sure, they've made a tidy profit per unit in Europe and in North America. All the while, the Chinese copied the technology/designs and evolved themselves, almost completely shutting Apple out of growth markets like China and India. Now, companies like Xiaomi, Huawei and Oppo lead the Chinese market, are becoming dominant in India and even South America. These were supposed to be enormous growth centers for the next few decades and profit per unit destroyed those aspirations.
 
D4rkn3ss said:
i wonder what pr stunt they would try to pull when their workers start jumping to their deaths in US soil lol
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You joke, but that's the reality we live in. You have these usually wealthy hipster liberal people buying up all these Apple products acting like they are changing the world for the better, and yet accepting that those same stylish products are essentially the product of sweatshop conditions, with kids working ridiculous hours, without breaks, locked in a complex six days a week.

And the sad part is, those savings aren't passed on to the consumer, they are funneled into the pockets of a few multi-billionaires.
 
Ducman69 said:
You joke, but that's the reality we live in. You have these usually wealthy hipster liberal people buying up all these Apple products acting like they are changing the world for the better, and yet accepting that those same stylish products are essentially the product of sweatshop conditions, with kids working ridiculous hours, without breaks, locked in a complex six days a week.

And the sad part is, those savings aren't passed on to the consumer, they are funneled into the pockets of a few multi-billionaires.
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Do you honestly care about the exploited? Given your history, I doubt it. Never seen you complain about ripping the benefits of the now completely destroyed middle east.
 
So either Apple takes a big hit to profit margins on iPhones or consumers will be paying $1500 for a cellphone just because it has a "Made in U.S.A." sticker on it. I wonder which one Apple will choose?
 
Dwango said:
So either Apple takes a big hit to profit margins on iPhones or consumers will be paying $1500 for a cellphone just because it has a "Made in U.S.A." sticker on it. I wonder which one Apple will choose?
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They will certainly be more expensive to manufacture, but I don't think it's as bad as you think it is.


Firstly while America n workers cost much more per hour, they also have higher productivity than those in third world countries.

Another factor to consider are the constant meetings, trips, and shipping costs of everything from prototypes to final devices back and forth over the Pacific. This adds a non-negligible cost

There are also slow downs due to time zone differences. This may seem silly and small but picture you get to work one day. The plant in China has emailed you over night with a problem they need you to resolve, but they didn't quite explain it well enough, so you reply for a clarification.

They don't get this email until next day for them, and then reply, which you don't get until next day. Have this back and forth a few times, and you've easily spent a week for nothing at all.

There is also a significant marketing/goodwill value in being able to brag about being "Made in the USA", and I'm sure Apple would be thrilled to have the bimonthly stories about worker abuses and suicides just go away.

Not to mention the higher risks of industrial espionage in China.

Add everything up, and I think the cost will still be higher in the U.S, but I don't think it will be insurmountably so.

A lot of companies are cha going their mind about sending large parts of their businesses abroad. Many large call centers - for instance - have been bringing their operations back to the U.S. in recent years because they added the numbers and found that it actually wasn't that much cheaper in the end.
 
American workers are not your father's friends anymore, they're my generation of uppity gimmie! gimmie! kids who will unionize and/or demand to work as little hours as possible for the most amount of money and eat away as much of Apple's margins as they can because they are doing the world some big service by gluing phones together. I wouldn't be surprised if American workers were more productive than the Asian sweat-shop but this trend towards nanny-me will likely erode any gains
 
gigatexal said:
American workers are not your father's friends anymore, they're my generation of uppity gimmie! gimmie! kids who will unionize and/or demand to work as little hours as possible for the most amount of money and eat away as much of Apple's margins as they can because they are doing the world some big service by gluing phones together. I wouldn't be surprised if American workers were more productive than the Asian sweat-shop but this trend towards nanny-me will likely erode any gains
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You should spend some time in an American factory some time, and you might change your mind.

I've worked in manufacturing plants (mostly medical devices) in the U.S. for 13 years and, with the exception of an unnamed defense contractor which had a toxic union environment, I've overwhelmingly been very impressed with the operations and the employees.

That being said, many of the employees (but not all) are first and second generation Asian and Guatemalan workers who seem to have a much higher than average work ethic, even when it comes to mind numbing repetitive tasks.

I sometimes wonder if they set the pace for everyone else, and make everyone else work harder as they are embarrassed to look bad.
 
hmm well, given that I have no real world experience on the matter, your experience is most humbling and a welcome change to what I was thinking.

On another note: when did the US presidency become a dictatorship? How exactly is Apple going to be forced to move manufacturing? Honestly asking, not looking for a flame war.
 
gigatexal said:
hmm well, given that I have no real world experience on the matter, your experience is most humbling and a welcome change to what I was thinking.

On another note: when did the US presidency become a dictatorship? How exactly is Apple going to be forced to move manufacturing? Honestly asking, not looking for a flame war.
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35% tariff tax just like ford has been threatened with.
 
dgz said:
Do you honestly care about the exploited? Given your history, I doubt it.
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What post history specifically, give me an example... this should be good. *pops popcorn* Search my username for Foxconn and see what I've said in the past numerous times about it. Woops!
dgz said:
Never seen you complain about ripping the benefits of the now completely destroyed middle east.
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The... wait, what? When did that ever come up? And you've probably never seen me eat a hot dog before either.

Put the crack pipe down, and speak plainly.
 
File this as won't happen, or it will be done with robotic manufacturing resulting in little to no jobs created.
 
I don't know if you would believe me, but Apple already employees A LOT of well payed Americans right here in the country all ready. They are not Apple employees and they do work in manufacturing.
 
Apple could be making them in the US but they wont not when they can pay the children labor force in foxxcon all of 10 dollars a day. Trump wants to add taxes and tariffs to imported goods and lower local taxes and such to encourage aggressively manufacturing here. What it will end up is they will do everything overseas except put the screen and battery in those will be done here...
 
Ducman69 said:
What post history specifically, give me an example... this should be good. *pops popcorn* Search my username for Foxconn and see what I've said in the past numerous times about it. Woops!

The... wait, what? When did that ever come up? And you've probably never seen me eat a hot dog before either.

Put the crack pipe down, and speak plainly.
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Ye, I was picking on you on principle. And quite honestly in spirit of your own specific post.

Wealthy liberal people? Simply existing in a wealthy country puts in position of exploiting many others. Thing is these Chinese workers and many others in SE Asia are having it many times better than some in the ME who are being very exploited as we speak and not by their choice. This is right now. Acknowledging reality is not pointing fingers.

So, do you care about all exploited or just the ones producing your electronics? I didn't see you stating it plainly.
 
Even if much of the manufacturing moved to the US is automated, that's still good for us as there is still a ton of money remaining in the US economy by contrast, and they will be held to American environmental standards.
lostinseganet said:
35% tariff tax just like ford has been threatened with.
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Its worked too.

Ford went from "We're Not Canceling Mexican Plans, Despite Trump" before the results of the election, to "Ford tells Trump no Lincoln SUV production going to Mexico" after the Republican landslide win of all branches of government, because I think they realize that with the executive branch, the house, and the senate... yeah, they aren't bluffing and have the numbers to push such legislation through, or at least the threat of it has enough credibility to cause Ford stocks to plummet if they were to take on such a risk as to invest in outsourcing US jobs to Mexico at this time.

Of course Ford is bragging that its just because they want to preserve American jobs now, like they give a crap all of a sudden, even though Ford top execs were giving American workers a big middle finger this time last year!!! Fact is, we threatened their bottom line, and money talks, bullshit walks.

I am really excited by the prospect of seeing not only "Made in America" back on store shelves again, but I hope to see a German style revival of really taking pride in what "Made in America" means so that it will become a real BRAND so when people see that they know they are getting the highest quality.
 
Ducman69 said:
Even if much of the manufacturing moved to the US is automated, that's still good for us as there is still a ton of money remaining in the US economy by contrast, and they will be held to American environmental standards.

Its worked too.

Ford went from "We're Not Canceling Mexican Plans, Despite Trump" before the results of the election, to "Ford tells Trump no Lincoln SUV production going to Mexico" after the Republican landslide win of all branches of government, because I think they realize that with the executive branch, the house, and the senate... yeah, they aren't bluffing and have the numbers to push such legislation through, or at least the threat of it has enough credibility to cause Ford stocks to plummet if they were to take on such a risk as to invest in outsourcing US jobs to Mexico at this time.

Of course Ford is bragging that its just because they want to preserve American jobs now, like they give a crap all of a sudden, even though Ford top execs were giving American workers a big middle finger this time last year!!! Fact is, we threatened their bottom line, and money talks, bullshit walks.

I am really excited by the prospect of seeing not only "Made in America" back on store shelves again, but I hope to see a German style revival of really taking pride in what "Made in America" means so that it will become a real BRAND so when people see that they know they are getting the highest quality.
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Yeah, but protectionism never works.

I'm all for a standard duty applied to foreign countries based on a rating scale of their worker protections, so that competition isn't unfair, and we are trying to compete with essentially slave labor.

If the state department rated each nation using a standardized scale, on a 6 months to a year basis based on their worker protections (safety, benefits, etc.) and had an automatic duty applied based on their rating (the worse rating, the higher the duty) we could get to the point of both benefiting from trade, while at the same time not competing with people who make pennies an hour while being forced to live in warehouse like dormitories, and jumping off roofs.

I'm actually somewhat concerned about modern anti-trade sentiment.

I've spent almost my entire career in the medical device industry, manufacturing domestically and successfully exporting our goods to other countries. If protectionist policies are put in place, it's only a matter of time before others strike back and place tariffs on our goods, which will significantly harm my industry.

Trade - if done fairly - benefits us much more than it hurts us by taking advantage of the concept of "comparative advantage" in which each locale does what they do best, compared to others. Taking that away is a significant threat, but at the same time, we can't continue down the path where american workers are unfairly being out-competed by serfs subjugated by oppressive regimes.
 
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